1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to water evaporation systems, and particularly to a flexible belt evaporator for cooling and humidifying closed areas and for the desalination of water.
2. Description of the Related Art
Water evaporation systems are well known for various purposes, e.g., removing seawater to recover salt and/or other minerals, cooling due to the heat absorption of evaporating water, and humidifying air. Accordingly, a number of different water evaporation devices, systems, and methods of operation have been developed in the past.
A general class of such systems comprises the spreading of a relatively thin film or layer of water on a sheet of material so that the relatively large surface area per volume of water provides reasonably efficient evaporation. The problem with this principle of operation is that salt or other contaminants or impurities in the water will rapidly coat the sheet of material once the water evaporates. Some means must be provided for removal of the salt and/or other residue from the evaporation sheet or substrate material, at least from time to time. The more efficient the evaporative process, the more rapidly the salt and/or other residue builds upon the evaporative base material. Some method for preventing salt from accumulating on the evaporator would increase the efficiency and extend the life of the device.
Thus, a flexible belt evaporator solving the aforementioned problems is desired.